


Light in the Dark

by Antheia21



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Dark Disciple - Christie Golden, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Bounty Hunters, Count Dooku - Freeform, Count Dooku is an abusive asshole, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Forbidden Love, Graphic Violence, Grey Jedi, Hurt/Comfort, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Jedi, Kidnapping, Major Character Death but not Ventress or Vos, Major Character Injury, Major character near death, Mostly Canon Compliant, Nightsisters (Star Wars), On the Run, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Physical Abuse, Post-Order 66, Post-Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Post-Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Order 66 (Star Wars), References to Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), Sex used as a weapon, Sexual Assault, Sith, Space Adventure, Star Wars Dark Disciple alternative ending, The Force, The Force Ships It, Vostress happily ever after, past trauma, references to past abuse, the Jedi and Sith were wrong, vostress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:21:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25427599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antheia21/pseuds/Antheia21
Summary: A Dark Disciple alternative ending fic where Asajj Ventress lives. She and Quinlan Vos travel the galaxy together on adventures. This is the story of them coming to terms with past trauma and facing what is yet to come in their new life together. Action, adventure, and romance abound.
Relationships: Asajj Ventress/Quinlan Vos, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Light in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first ever fanfic I have written! I just finished reading Star Wars Dark Disciple and I had to write an alternative ending for one of my now fave OTPs Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos aka Vostress. Fair warning that this contains heavy spoilers for Dark Disciple and Dooku: Jedi Lost. I searched for fics about Ventress and Vos and saw that there just isn't much out there so I had to remedy that by creating my own! It will contain lots of action, adventure, and romance. Special thanks to rainbowtaurus and jacrispybensolo for encouraging me to do this, helping me by allowing me to bounce my ideas off of them, and betaing this fic for me! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I look forward to telling their continued adventures as this will be a multi-chapter fic. My updates may be spotty, but I will try to come up with a more regular posting schedule. The title for this fic comes from the song "You are the Reason" by Calum Scott which really is the perfect song for them. Happy Vostress reading!

“Goodbye, my love,” Quinlan Vos said with tears streaming down his cheeks and an ache in his heart that he didn’t think would ever fully heal. Asajj Ventress was gone. She had sacrificed her life to save his, the ultimate act of love. Not only had she saved his physical life, she had saved his soul as well, helping him see the truth that the darkside was not the right path.

The water slowly closed over her body, with her face the last thing he saw before the water enveloped her completely. As soon as she was completely submerged the sound of voices lifted all around him. Voices of the Nightsisters that had passed before, calling for their sister. Chanting in a language he did not understand. Obi-Wan Kenobi came up beside him with his hand on his lightsaber. 

“What was that?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I don’t know, “ Vos replied. “It sounded like voices, but I don’t know what they are saying.” 

They looked around in awe and apprehension as a green mist floated over the top of the pool, lifting up into the air in swirling patterns. He could make out the word “sister”. Then the mist continued to expand and rise, snaking up and twisting around Vos and Kenobi. Suddenly the water started to move and roil, waves cascaded, becoming more violent until a form burst forth, and hurtled to the ground before them. The figure began to violently cough and spasm.

Vos couldn't believe his eyes. He stepped forward when he saw Asajj Ventress on her hands and knees before him, in the same beautiful evening dress that she was wearing when he lowered her into the water, her form soaking wet but instead of still and lifeless, she was vibrant and alive. The lines from Count Dooku’s Force lightning that had snaked over her body were gone. She coughed up water as both Vos and Kenobi stared at her.

She gazed up at the two men just as shocked as they were, her pale blue eyes wide and her heart pounding in her chest. Her heart was pounding in her chest? She was alive!

“Asajj!” Vos cried and rushed towards her. He fell down on his knees before her, grasping her shoulders tightly and staring at her with shock, awe, and, did he dare, hope? “How? What?!”

Kenobi was equally astonished, staring at the two of them with his hand still on his lightsaber. Ventress looked first at Vos and then at Kenobi, clearly not fully comprehending what had just happened, but remembering that the Nightsisters had powerful magicks that could perform a plethora of things that the universe at large would consider to be unnatural. She remembered the night old Daka had called the army of dead Nightsisters to assist in the attack against General Grievous and the droids that had annihilated their home. Was this a similar kind of magick that had brought her back to life? She wasn’t sure, she had not been with the Nightsisters long enough to learn all of their secrets and magicks. Ventress looked up at the man she loved and saw his dark brown eyes were full of hope that this wasn’t some trick or hallucination, that he wasn’t just dreaming.

“Quinlan?” Ventress’ voice shook and she trembled as she stared back at him. She couldn’t believe it either. Was she actually alive? Was this a dream, or part of the afterlife? His hands on her shoulders were real and tangible, and she certainly felt alive.

All she remembered before this moment was Quinlan holding her carefully and staring down at her, with tears streaming unchecked down his face. Her body had ached all over and she had been relieved when the pain had finally gone away and she could relish the moment he was holding her gently and professing how much he loved her. They both had said exactly what they had been afraid to voice only a short time before. They had nothing to lose at that moment, nothing that wasn't already lost to them, a future with a life together. He had been begging her not to leave him. She recalled telling him to let her go, that it was the Jedi way. The Jedi did not believe in forming attachments or loving another so deeply that it transcended everything else.

“How is this possible?! How are you here? What just happened?!” Vos exclaimed, all questions that Ventress had no answers to. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, pouring all his happiness and emotion into the kiss, all the pain and heartache from the last few months at the Jedi temple, thinking that she was lost to him forever, thinking that _he_ had been the cause of her death. That if he had just listened when she had asked him to run away with her in that park on Coruscant, then none of this would have happened.

Ventress savored the kiss, how alive it made her feel, how alive his kiss always made her feel. Quinlan wore his heart on his sleeve, he could never hide his emotions from her. So she felt his happiness, his love, his joy through the Force, through their bond. But she also felt his apprehension that this was just a dream or some trick of the darkside meant to torment him in his anguish. She pulled back and broke the kiss, gently stroking his cheek.

“It’s real. I’m alive. I don’t know how and I don’t know why. I never learned the extent of the magicks of the Nightsisters, but it appears that my sisters have sent me back to the living,” Ventress stated. Vos continued to stare in disbelief at her, smiling with so much joy it lit up his handsome face. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks.

“I don’t care how it happened or why. You are alive and here with me. That’s all that matters,” Vos pulled her back into his arms and pressed his forehead to hers. Kenobi walked up beside them and cleared his throat. Vos and Ventress pulled back from each other to look up at him.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but this complicates things immensely. How are we to explain that Asajj Ventress is, in fact, alive after she has been dead for several months in stasis in the Jedi Temple?” Obi-Wan mused. “Don’t get me wrong, I am glad to see you are alive and well Ventress, but I don’t know how we will explain this to the Jedi Council.”

“We won’t need to,” Vos replied. “No one needs to know she is alive. The only ones that know are you and I, and it should stay that way. I don’t want Dooku to come looking for her when he finds out she is still alive.”

“Fair point,” Obi-Wan replied. “However, we could ask the Jedi Council to be discrete. This does not need to be common knowledge.”

“Obi-Wan, you know as well as I do that these things have a tendency to get out, and I absolutely don’t want to risk it. I’ve already lost her once, I don’t want to lose her again,” Vos countered.

“I can make myself scarce. I lived alone as a bounty hunter discretely and effectively until Quinlan sought me out for the Jedi’s _excellent_ plan to execute Count Dooku,” Ventress interjected, sarcasm coating her voice. “ I can do so again.”

The thought of living a life alone as a bounty hunter was not as appealing as it once might have been. Not after she had lived a life with a partner and lover. But she didn’t dare to hope that Vos would leave the Jedi Order to be with her. Not that he could anyway with their apprehension of him turning to the darkside again.

“No,” Vos said definitively. “This time I will be with you, Asajj. I am not going to be separated from you again. I refuse. You are the most important thing to me, and I will not waste this second chance. Not when I wasted it before.”

He ran his fingers along her cheek and looked at her with guilt and despair in his eyes. It broke her heart to see it there. Did he really think all of this was his fault? She grasped his hand and squeezed it, laying her head on his shoulder as they both looked at Kenobi.

“Right,” Kenobi sighed. “I had a feeling you were going to say that. Well, let’s at least get off this deserted planet and find a place where we can talk about our next steps and find you a ship. 

\----

Kenobi set the ship down in the spaceport on Pantora. It didn't take them long to track down a Lancer-class cruiser to replace the _Banshee,_ which had been destroyed on Christophsis. They acquired supplies to stock their new ship and moved Vos' few possessions that he had brought with him on the ship to lay Asajj to rest on Dathomir.

That thought made him shudder. Only a few hours ago he had been saying goodbye to her forever, but now here she stood next to him. It was surreal. He couldn't help feeling like it was all still just a dream, wishful thinking on his part. Like the dreams he had had over the last few months, where he imagined that things had gone differently and that he had never agreed to the second assassination attempt on Dooku. That he had agreed to run away with Asajj as she had asked him to.

He had relived that moment over and over. It was a way his mind tortured him for his mistakes, _the_ biggest mistake he had ever made. One that had caused the death of the love of his life.

He could not shake the image of her weakened body being ravaged by Dooku's Force lightning. She had not survived it because she had already been weakened by her injuries from the Jedi shooting down the tower around them as they tried to flee, in his ridiculous plan to use Dooku to help him defeat Sidious and take his place with Asajj by his side.

He still had no idea what he had been thinking. What he had really hoped to gain from that alliance. He should have listened to Asajj. His judgement had been so clouded by the dark side. He had not even realized that it still had such a powerful grip on him. Not until Asajj had made him see it. But it had been too late. She had been dying, having given her life for his in the process and there was nothing he could do to save her. He shook his head to clear his thoughts when he noticed Asajj looking at him concerned. 

"Is everything all right?" she asked, grabbing his hand. 

"You have been kind of distant Vos," Obi-Wan added looking at him with a furrow on his brow.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a lot to think about.”

"Are you having second thoughts about leaving the Jedi Order?" Ventress asked. "I want to be sure this is what you really want. You have been living as a Jedi again for quite a while. I understand if that's the path you want to follow."

She had to acknowledge that she bore a lot of guilt for ever opening him up to the dark side in the first place. She would not blame him if he chose to stay with the Jedi rather than live as a bounty hunter, never having a permanent home. He had friends at the Jedi Temple. He risked everything by choosing to come with her, risked being labeled a fugitive. She wanted him to be sure.

"No," he said definitively. "I know what I am risking and leaving behind by coming with you. It's my choice. It's what I want, no regrets."

"As long as you are sure," Obi-Wan said. 

"I am," the tone he used shutting down any argument to the contrary. Asajj looked at him warily. He smiled at her to put her at ease but she narrowed her eyes. He was never good at keeping secrets from her. Hell, she had figured out he was a Jedi before he had even told her. Luckily both she and Kenobi dropped it.

They stopped in a cantina before they went their separate ways to discuss how they would explain Vos’s absence to the Jedi Council. Vos suggested Kenobi tell them that he and Vos were attacked by Separatists on Dathomir.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Obi-Wan asked. “I’m afraid certain members of the council may think you planned the attack and are still working with Dooku. They may want to come after you.”

“Do you have a better idea?” Vos replied, downing the rest of his drink and setting his cup down on the table. 

“Unfortunately, no,” Kenobi concluded, rubbing his chin as he also set his cup down and tossed some credits down to pay for their meal.

“Guess we will just have to see then.” Vos looked at Ventress and she smiled at him.

“I don’t mind being on the run. I never had any love for the Jedi,” she said with a wink and placed her hand over his on the table. 

Kenobi walked with them to the landing pad where his ship and their new ship was docked. Asajj had jokingly dubbed the new ship, the _Bog Witch_ after an insult hurled at her by the former Jedi, Ahsoka Tano. Kenobi had scoffed in laughter at that. He missed the feisty Padawan, and he knew his own former Padawan, now Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker, missed her even more. The trio had been on quite a few harrowing missions together, some of which had pitted them against the former Sith assassin.

Asajj had a begrudging admiration for Ahsoka, as she had been betrayed by the Jedi Order and accused of staging a bombing in the Jedi Temple. She had even helped Ahsoka to clear her name when they had found out that another Padawan, Barriss Offee, had actually been the one to stage the bombing when she felt the Jedi had lost their path as peacekeepers and helped to perpetuate a war that cost thousands of lives. Asajj had to admit that she had a point. The Jedi were hypocrites in a lot of ways. 

As they stopped in front of their ships, getting ready to board, Kenobi turned to them. 

“I never told you about Satine.” Obi-Wan said.

“You mean Dutchess Satine Kyrze? The former ruler of Mandalore who was killed by Maul?” Vos asked. He knew of the Duchess and he knew that Obi-Wan and his Master Qui-Gon had spent about a year with her.

“Yes. Satine and I...we became very close during the time that my Master Qui-Gon and I were protecting her during the Mandalorian civil war. I never had the chance to tell her that I loved her,” his voice was filled with regret. “She told me she loved me as she died and I was too scared and too weak to tell her the same. I will regret that for the rest of my life.”

Obi-Wan gazed wistfully into the distance as he recalled that moment. “I admire you for not being afraid, as I was, to tell the woman you love how you feel, before it was too late. The fact that you get another chance to be together...you can’t waste it. I understand. I too would have left the Jedi Order had Satine asked. But she never did, and I never offered. We were too wrapped up in our duties to consider our own happiness. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t wonder how my life would have been different if I had. Maybe she would still be alive.” The pain was evident on Obi-Wan’s face. 

“Well enough about me and my regrets. I will miss having you around, even though trouble always seems to follow you. May the Force be with you, old friend,” Obi-Wan said to Vos while clapping him on the shoulder and gripping it tightly. “With both of you,” he added while glancing at Ventress. “And if you ever need anything, you know how to reach me.”

“May the Force be with you as well, Obi-Wan. I can never repay you for what you said in my defense to the council. I owe you my life.” Vos said, his voice thick with emotion as he gazed at his friend. Ventress looked at him quizzically, raising her brow. She would have to ask him later about what happened.

“Nothing I wouldn’t do for a friend.” Obi-Wan replied with a smile. He turned to Ventress, “Goodbye, Ventress. It was nice being on the same side for once. You always were a formidable foe, but I can’t deny that I looked forward to our interactions, even when we were enemies.”

“The pleasure was all mine, my dear Obi-Wan,” Ventress smiled and winked at him.

“Hey, hey, that’s enough, “ Vos interrupted. “No trying to take my woman, Kenobi, “ he chuckled.

“I wouldn’t dare,” Obi-Wan laughed. “She’s too much for me to handle, but I have faith in you, Vos. I don’t think there is another man in the galaxy that could match Ventress like you can.”

“Indeed,” Vos turned to Ventress to throw her a cocky grin.

“Come on, idiot. Let’s get out of here before the Jedi changes his mind and turns us in.” Ventress rolled her eyes and retorted though there was amusement in her voice.

“Goodbye, Obi-Wan,” Vos said as he grabbed Ventress’ hand and intertwined their fingers.

“Goodbye, Vos, Ventress,” Obi-Wan said as he turned to head back into the ship. He closed the ramp and sat down at the controls. He wished the best for them but he knew they had a hard road ahead to overcome the events of the past year and the trauma they had been through. They were both his friends and he knew that the strength of their love would help them through it. It had, after all, brought Vos back from the dark side. He hoped it would be enough for them to heal the other wounds that he could sense were still looming underneath the surface. He knew he would be there to help them any way that he could if they asked it of him.

  
  


\-----

"I was beginning to think he would never leave," Ventress mused jokingly as she turned towards Quinlan and brought her hands up to lay them on the center of his chest. She gazed up at him from under her long, thick black lashes. "Let's go and christen our new ship," she stated suggestively with a wink, tapping Quinlan under the chin with her forefinger.

"You don't have to ask me twice," Quinlan laughed as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her up the ramp into their Lancer-class pursuit craft. He set her down as soon as they stepped inside and slammed his hand on the controls to close the hatch.

Vos wasted no time in pinning her between his arms against the side of the ship. Ventress put her palm on his cheek and traced her thumb along his lip. Quinlan grabbed her wrist and sucked her thumb into his mouth, sliding his tongue along it in a way that made Asajj gasp.

She had been with many lovers over the years, but none that lasted more than one night. And certainly none that made her feel like Vos did when he touched her, or merely just looked at her with hunger in his eyes. For being a virgin when she met him, he was a fast learner. He certainly must have had females throwing themselves at him on past missions, she was sure.

He was an extraordinarily attractive man. His facial features were strong but still very handsome. He had long, black dreadlocked hair which accentuated his rogue persona. By far, his warm, brown expressive eyes were his best feature. She could lose herself in them. They saw things in her that she didn’t even see in herself. Under his eyes was a linear yellow tattoo, which only highlighted the beauty of his eyes. He was muscular and kept in good shape due to the nature of his job. He was more rugged and tough than the traditional Jedi. His clothing choice of sleeveless tunics left his beautifully muscular arms exposed to be admired, something that Ventress appreciated. She was sure she was not the only female to do so. She was also certain that she was the only one that got to see him with absolutely nothing on, a thought that thrilled her. He was _hers_ and hers alone. That she could claim. She smiled. 

Quinlan grinned broadly. "What?"

"Mmmm nothing," Asajj quipped. 

Quinlan dipped his head to where her neck met her shoulder and ran his tongue along it. The air went out of her lungs as she savored the tingling sensation that ran from where his tongue touched her to the center of her thighs. 

"Kriff, I missed this so much," Quinlan murmured along the skin of her shoulder as he made his way from her neck to the top of her shoulder with his lips and tongue. "I didn't think I would ever feel this again." He moved to capture her lips with his.

Asajj opened her mouth and let him in, let his tongue slide along hers. She was floating, it felt like the first time they had kissed. All breathless and needy, filled with want that had been building up and coiled to be released like a caged animal. Except this time, it was the release of a tidal wave of relief that they were both alive. They were _alive_.

Asajj responded to him by sliding her hands up along the taut muscles of his arms as they kissed. She leaned into the kiss and sucked on his tongue drawing a groan from Quinlan. She felt him press his body closer and the evidence of his arousal brushed against the inside of her thighs through the high slit of her dress.

Quinlan's hand moved down along her left side to slide between the high side slit in her dress and run along her upper thigh. He loved how strong and muscular her thighs were, especially when they were wrapped around his body every time they danced this dance. They could provide the deadliest of kicks to an enemy, but to him they were beautiful and feminine and one of his favorite parts of her, even if she had kicked him more than a few times with them while they were training. She lifted her leg to wrap around his waist so they could get even closer and he could rub his arousal against her slick core. They both gasped and broke the kiss.

"I...uh...I...never told you what I was really thinking when I first saw you in that dress," Quinlan breathed.

“Tell me later,” Ventress replied breathlessly, putting her forefinger on his lips to silence him. “I don’t want to talk, I just want to feel.”

“As my lady wishes.” Vos resumed his attention by sliding his right hand to the ties at the front of the black corset of her dress, designed to look like a snake with overlapping black leather scales accented with purple embroidery.

It fit her. She was a deadly viper, beautiful but also lethal. Lethal to anyone that crossed her or got in her way. She had lived that way for most of her life. That thought gripped his heart and he hoped that he could make her life happier in the future. He was privileged enough to be the one person that knew the true Asajj Ventress. The pain that she hid behind the deadly persona. The pain of the devastating loss of everyone she ever cared about or dared to love; her mother, her Jedi master, her sisters. He would be her rock. The one she could rely on. He would not let her down again. He vowed that to himself and he would tell her that someday when she was ready to hear it. 

He untied the corset and hastily pulled the laces through. As magnificent as the dress was, it was only one more obstacle preventing him from tasting what he had yearned for and thought was lost to him forever. He finally untied the last lace and the dress slipped down her body and pooled onto the floor in a pile of leather and chiffon. Her entire upper body was bared to him, her waist and midsection covered in a tight black shorts, and netted stockings covered her legs. She wore high heels also with a shining black leather snake design. He lost the ability to speak for a moment.

“You look….gorgeous, like a goddess, “ Vos breathed as his eyes, pupils blown wide, traveled from her breasts down her body to take in every glorious inch of her.

She had been complimented many times in her life. Asajj was aware that males of many species found her attractive. It was one of her greatest weapons in her arsenal that she used to complete her missions and get what she wanted. Many times it led to their eventual death at her hands, or the hands of her associates. She used it to her advantage. But coming from Quinlan, it was different. It came from a place of true adoration for her and who she was, not just superficial beauty. She knew he found her physically attractive, but he was the only one she had ever met that knew about and found the rest of her beautiful as well. 

Vos captured her fingers and kissed them before calling on the Force to pin her hands above her head. He stepped back, heart swelling in his chest at the sheer, unadorned beauty of her. Ventress tugged and found her hands immovable. He smirked. They both enjoyed using the Force when they engaged in lovemaking.

Asajj had not slept with a Force user before Vos. She smiled a sultry smile back at him as he began kissing a trail from her neck down to the valley between her breasts. He moved to her left breast and licked a trail across it flicking the nipple with his tongue. She gasped. Then he pulled the entire nipple into his mouth, lavishing it with attention with his lips and tongue. His hand moved to stroke and knead her other breast as he kissed and licked it's pair. The heat built even more inside her as his tongue worked it's magic. Maker, he was so good with his tongue. Before she knew it, she was panting and her arms tugged against his Force restraint. He moved to her other breast and lavished it with similar attention. 

"How a Jedi can be so good with his tongue, I will never understand," she quipped as she gasped for air. "A bunch of stuffed up, celibate, do gooders who deny passion, pleasure, and the finer things in life."

Quinlan laughed against her skin as he continued to worship her in a carnal way, a non-Jedi way. "I had a good teacher."

Ventress smiled. That he did. She tilted her head back against the wall and felt her knees getting weak. Luckily Quinlan's grip on her with the Force held her in place against the wall. He licked and flicked his tongue over her nipple until she lost the ability to think. Her thoughts were consumed with how amazing this felt, how amazing he felt.

He began working his way down her taut stomach to the top of her shorts. Hooking his fingers under the lip of the fabric, he slid them down her hips and thighs, tossing them off to the side carelessly. Then he did the same with her shoes and netted stockings, kissing a path down the inside of her legs as he did. 

"Maker, you are so beautiful. I've been all over the galaxy and nothing is as beautiful as you are, Asajj," he murmured against her skin.

He looked up at her from his knees before her, like a supplicant at the feet of a deity. She looked down at him and could see the love and devotion in his eyes. Her cheeks heated. This man had left the only thing he knew behind for her. She would never forget that. 

Not wasting any more time, Quinlan dove forward and began kissing her lower abdomen, working his way ever closer to her center. His hands settled on her hips, wide compared to her waist but still narrow and slight.

She had a deceptively fragile appearance, but Quinlan knew she was as strong and powerful as she appeared slight. He had seen her take on opponents from the most miniscule Ugnaught to the most burly Wookies without much trouble. He also knew from first hand experience how a strike from her powerful legs could send you sprawling.

He kissed his way to her center and savored his first taste of her with a swipe of his tongue. Her hips lifted in response and she gasped his name. Oh how he loved it when she said his name like that. Taking it as encouragement to proceed. He lifted her legs over his shoulders and held her suspended with the Force against the wall as he set to devour her. He loved doing this. He loved how it made her writhe and moan and scream his name. It's one of the few times she let her guard down to just be and feel.

He could sense her enjoyment and ecstasy through the Force, he knew what felt good by how it made her feel. Their bond had only grown stronger the more they had delved into their shared passion. The Force had opened up new exciting connections between them each time they engaged in this type of intimacy. The Sith were right about one thing. _Through passion, I gain strength_. When he had opened up to that pent up passion their first time together, it had unlocked a strength in him he didn't know he possessed. He was stronger in his connection to the Force than he had been before, by connecting in this physical and emotional way with Asajj. The Jedi were weaker because they denied this. They denied pleasure and passionate love, to their detriment he now realized. 

That's why he could never go back. That's why he knew from their first time together, that he could never go back. He knew she had been unsure if he would. He could sense her apprehension during their time training together on Dathomir. But it was never a question for him. Their bond had been forged that first night. A bond that would never be broken. Something that even Dooku could not break though he tried to do so with every form of malevolent torture he could think of.

It burned him to know that Dooku had done much worse to Asajj when she was his apprentice for years while it had only been months for him. He would make her life better from now on. He would give her all the love and devotion she deserved for the remarkable, passionate woman that she was. He would give her a loving home and everything that it was in his power to give, everything she had been denied or had taken away from her.

He licked, kissed, and sucked her center until she screamed his name and her climax came crashing down over her. He felt it through their Force connection. He gently released his Force hold on her and caught her as she slid down the wall of their new ship and into his arms.

She weighed practically nothing to him. He clasped her thighs as she wrapped them around his waist and set to kissing him passionately, her hands on his muscular upper arms. She could taste herself on his lips and the pleasure soared within her again at the thought of how much he enjoyed doing this to her. How much he reveled in giving her pleasure.

That's one thing she could thank the Jedi for, their tendency to want to give with no thought of reward. But she knew that wasn't just the Jedi teachings, it was Quinlan. He gave and gave with no thought of reward. But reward him she would, she thought and smiled against his lips.

"Bed. Now," she growled as she nipped at his lower lip. He wasted no more time in carrying her over to their new bed. They had made sure to get a ship with a bed wide enough to accommodate their carnal activities, which could, at times, get a little crazy. They both enjoyed sex and all the different ways they could explore each other's bodies. No sense in getting a ship that could not accommodate it. 

"You," Ventress chastised running her index finger slowly down his chest after he sat down on the bed with her straddling him, "Have entirely too many clothes on.

She set her hands to removing the clasp on his belt and tossed it off to the side before moving to pull off his shoulder armor and then his tunic over his head, revealing his dark skinned and muscular torso for her viewing pleasure. She had been with quite a few humanoid males in sexual encounters during her sordid past as a Sith assassin for Dooku, and a bounty hunter. But none had been as attractive to her as Vos. He kept physically fit for the types of jobs that he had been asked to do for the Jedi as a spy, more fit than other Jedi. A fact that she appreciated as she gazed at his naked upper torso in admiration. She wasted no time in sliding her pale white hands over his dark chest, the color of their skin a reverse of the sides of the Force they had used for most of their lives. Vos was quite aware that she found him attractive as she gazed at him hungrily, setting his hands on her waist and pulling her further up his lap to slide her core against his hardened length. 

“I missed this so much. You have no idea,” He groaned as he brought his forehead to rest against hers. “I never thought...I never thought I would ever feel this way again.”

He brought his hand to the side of her face to caress her cheek and slide into her hair. Asajj sighed and leaned into his palm. She brought her hand to his cheek as well to thumb at the stubble there along his strong jawline. 

“Well I am here now and we have all the time in the world to make up for what we missed the last few months.” The months missing from her memory. The months she was dead. She would ponder later what that meant and what he had gone through. For now she just wanted to live in the moment.

“For now, I just want to feel you. All of you,” she said as she brought her mouth to his again for another passionate kiss.

He opened his mouth to her, allowing her tongue to dance with his, allowing their mouths and hands and bodies to express their love. To express their longing and relief that the nightmare was over, that their separation was finally over. To reignite the passion they shared together that had lain dormant for what seemed like an eternity, what could have been an eternity.

Asajj placed her hands on Quinlan’s chest and shoved him back down onto the bed, breaking their kiss for a moment. Quinlan chuckled as she unzipped his pants and slid them and the rest of his armor and boots off onto the floor at the foot of the bed. Then she began to slide her pale hands up his legs as she kissed a trail with her lips and tongue up the inside of his thighs. 

“I..uh..I…,” Quinlan gasped, at a loss for words. He just closed his eyes and gave into his feelings, basked in how unbelievably erotic Asajj’s ministrations were as she worked her way up his legs to his already erect length. Then her wet mouth enclosed over him and everything but her and the way she made him feel fled his mind. His hands gripped the sheets and his heart pounded in his chest as she worked up and down him with her mouth and tongue. _How could I have lived without her, without this for the rest of my days?_ He no longer had to consider that reality. Just when he was on the brink of reaching his peak, Asajj pulled back and smiled up at him with that seductress’ smile he had grown to love.

“Not yet my dear, I’m not done with you yet,” she purred with that sexy rasp of hers that undid him in moments like this.

She continued to crawl up his body until her core hovered over him. Then she sank down onto his length slowly but in one smooth motion, with her hands firmly placed on his chest and her head thrown back and eyes closed. His eyes were fixed on her through all of it, hardly believing this was real, that she was real, wondering how he had ever been so lucky to have had her come into his life. As much as he regretted ever trying to assassinate Dooku, he would never regret that it was the reason that their paths had crossed. It was as the Force had willed it. He truly believed that. So how could this be anything but right and as it should be? The Jedi had been wrong in a lot of things. He saw that now.

Asajj began to move slowly and deliberately, taking her time rocking back and forth while Quinlan’s hips rose to meet her movements. He closed his eyes and threw his head back, reveling in the sensations that coursed through his body and the connection between them hummed to life as it always did when they were joined in this way. It was beautiful and vibrant and alive, it glimmered with everything they were and ever would be to each other, everything that they had been afraid to say to each other for the longest time. What they had said to each other in their last fateful moments together before Asajj had been taken away from him by the one who had made her life a living hell for so many years. It had been _his fault_. His fault for trusting Dooku in the first place. She never would have died if not for him. They could have completed their original mission and Dooku never would have had the chance to kill her. Waves of pain coursed through him.

Asajj sensed a shift in Quinlan’s thoughts, sensed his pain and agony. She stopped moving and opened her piercing pale blue eyes to search his face. “Quinlan? What’s wrong?” 

He grabbed her waist and flipped her over so he had her pinned beneath him with her legs were wrapped around him. "Nothing," was all he said before leaning down and kissing her deeply while beginning to move his hips.

Asajj knew it wasn't nothing, but she let it go for now. She would ask later. She lost herself in the rapture of being beneath her lover as he made love to her for the first time since she had been reawakened. They had been given a second chance and she didn't plan to waste any of it.

He angled her hips upward as he moved within her to hit that spot that always made her cry out. She tilted her head back as the first wave of pleasure hit her and she gasped his name. How he loved when she gasped his name like that. As he continued to move, he could feel his own release building. He would make sure she came first, as he always did when they were together. He moved his hand down to thumb at her nub and that provided all the additional friction she needed to send her over her peak. She screamed his name as waves of pleasure coursed over her. Her fingernails dug into his back and taut ass, where she had moved them during the course of their lovemaking. That provided the additional sensation that also sent him over the edge. His body tensed and then stilled, waves of pleasure hit him as he released within her.

He placed his forehead against Asajj's and closed his eyes as he caught his breath and his heartbeat slowed back down. He was overwhelmed with emotions that he could not voice. Love for Asajj. Thankfulness that they were both alive and given this second chance. Hurt that it had almost been his fault that she was taken from him and they could have never experienced this again. _He_ had almost lost all of this. _His_ fault. A tear escaped and slid down his cheek. 

"Hey," Asajj whispered, her eyes concerned, as she caught the tear with her index finger. "You okay?"

He shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts. He wouldn't let his own guilt and dark thoughts ruin her happiness in this moment. 

"Uh yeah, I'm fine."

She looked as if she didn't entirely believe him, but let it go. She was overwhelmed with emotions she couldn't fully voice either. They could talk later. For now they could just be two lovers given a second chance at a life together, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking while holding each other in their arms.

She ran her fingers along his broad back and he shivered. She could make this strong man shiver. A former Jedi, one of her former enemies, ironically. Smiling, she delighted in this fact. Vos pulled out of her and rolled them to their sides facing each other. He kissed her softly and tenderly, one hand on her back, pulling her against him, the other threading through her hair. 

"I love you," Quinlan said against her lips.

"I love you too," Asajj whispered back, kissing him again. This was the first time they had said those words to each other after lovemaking. It was full of relief and adoration. It felt like finally coming home. 

\----

"About what I was saying earlier...what I wanted to tell you...about what I was thinking when I first saw you in that dress," Quinlan murmured as he nuzzled into the back of her neck and wrapped his strong arms around her body as they basked naked in their post lovemaking bliss. 

"What was that?" Ventress asked breathless as she lazily ran a finger up and down the back of his hand that clasped her midsection. She recalled being embarrassed by the way that he had looked at her when she had descended that ramp from the _Banshee_. Like he saw through the facade to the real her.

"I was thinking you looked like a goddess. _Like a goddess of love and war and hope and ecstasy. Like a glimmering star that I have somehow been blessed to hold. Like the rest of my life._ "

Ventress felt tears well at the corner of her eyes and one slipped down her cheek. "Well I'm glad you didn't say that and embarrass both of us at the time." She grabbed his hand that was at her waist and held it to her chest. 

"I regret not being able to find the words to tell you then. I was afraid I would never get the chance," he whispered, the pain of remembrance tempering his voice. 

"Well you did and we are both alive and that's all that matters." She brought his hand to her lips and kissed the back of it before settling back into him, their bodies pressed together as they both drifted off to sleep. 


End file.
